Rock Slope Development in McMurdo Oasis, Antarctica, and Implications for Interpretations of Glacial History

Abstract

The upper slopes of the Asgard and Olympus ranges, of the Transantarctic Mountains, have been assessed for their rock mass strength. A finite-element model of two peaks has shown that under gravitational loading they have a tendency to spread laterally as a result of internal stresses. Stress release joints and slab failures are a consequence of this loading. The characteristic slope forms are cliffs in strength equilibrium surmounting Richter denudationslopes. It is argued that the ubiquity of such forms, and their antiquity, make an hypothesis of high-level glacial overriding unverifiable.